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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23949514">I Hate This Love Song</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/etcetera_kit/pseuds/etcetera_kit'>etcetera_kit</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Super Sentai Series, 宇宙戦隊キュウレンジャー | Uchu Sentai Kyuranger</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Casual Sex, Comfort Food, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Scars, Smut, Tattoos, Threesome - M/M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 01:27:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>12,620</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23949514</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/etcetera_kit/pseuds/etcetera_kit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Stinger was lurking. (In which, Stinger and Naga have an extremely personal problem and enlist Spada's help, while Balance does what he does best and causes distractions.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Naga Ray/Stinger, Ootori Tsurugi/Spada</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I Hate This Love Song</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So, read the tags before proceeding. If any of that is too weird or squicks you out, go no further. If you're up for some "Naga in heat" madness with a dose of angst and comfort, join me! Disclaimer: I know NOTHING about biology. This is all pure fantasy and speculation with no actual scientific basis.</p>
<p>Also, I'm on a roll lately! Previously, I would go months without posting. I blame working from home and suddenly having no commuting. (Is from my bed to my dining room table considered a commute?) Continued shout-out to everyone who commented on my fanfic poll over on tumblr (NossanBlue, dietwatermelon and bia-bonne) and, of course, 8bitstrawberrie! Enjoy y'all!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><strong>I Hate This Love Song<br/><br/></strong><strong>1/ You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe…<br/><br/></strong>Stinger was lurking.<br/><br/>That, in and of itself, was weird. Weirder still, how Stinger looked downright flustered, staring at the ground, shuffling his feet, trying to make himself scarce in a corner. Dinner had been over thirty minutes ago, and Stinger had eaten quickly, bolting from the galley immediately after. Only odd thing at dinner had been Balance announcing that Naga didn’t feel well and wouldn’t be there. (Odd, in that, Stinger usually knew when Naga wasn’t feeling well—Balance might have been Naga’s best friend, but Stinger was his lover. The latter became the worst-kept secret on the ship. By Spada’s calculations, they’d been together a few months now.)<br/><br/>“I put aside a plate for Naga,” Spada said conversationally.<br/><br/>Stinger visibly started.<br/><br/>Spada continued putting away the now-clean dishes from dinner. Stinger crept a little further into the galley, and nodded slightly. “I’ll get it for him later. He’s really not feeling well.”<br/><br/>Then Spada noticed that Stinger was flushed, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. <em>Porca miseria</em>, he hoped that Stinger was not about to ask him some semi-personal or awkward birds and the bees question. That usually happened because he seemed like the most mature and most practical, but his own experience with sex and relationships was not extensive and pretty vanilla. He doubted Stinger was going down that path though. Stinger would rather fight a death worm with his bare hands than ask for advice about anything.<br/><br/>“Have you heard about species that have heats?”<br/><br/>Spada dropped the silverware onto the counter with a clatter, giving Stinger a sharp look. The question had been rushed and mumbled, but there was no mistaking what he asked.<br/><br/>“Yes,” he said slowly. “There’s several. And the heats work differently for each species.” He left the silverware on the counter as he turned to fully face Stinger. “Why?”<br/><br/>Stinger took a deep breath and then the words tumbled out of him, rushed and almost jumbled. “The Ophiuchus System has heats, and they control them through strong suppressants, part of the no-emotions thing, but those aren’t available outside their system. Balance found Naga some that weren’t as strong, but those stopped working after Akenba, and Rebellion doctors haven’t been able to formulate anything and don’t have the resources because it’s so low priority and the Ophiuchus System isn’t talking to Naga anymore, so we took care of it the last two times, but last time, it went on for nearly twenty-four hours and I wasn’t really enough to satisfy him, so we were trying to think of something that might help.”<br/><br/>Spada blinked. That was a lot of information to process at once. However, “Are you telling me this because you need someone to talk to, or because you have a question in there?”<br/><br/>The flush grew. <em>Cazzo</em>, Spada had a sinking feeling he knew what the ask was.<br/><br/>“Um…”<br/><br/><em>Figlio di puttana</em>. “You think two people might satisfy him more and make the heat end sooner.” He exhaled. “And you’re asking me to help.”<br/><br/>“Lucky and Hammie are too inexperienced. Garu is devoted to Lucky. Tsurugi might help, but it’d be all over the ship and I’m not sure how… sensitive… he can be. Balance, Champ and Raptor aren’t built that way. And there’s no way in hell I’m asking the Commander.”<br/><br/>“What makes you think I have the experience to help?” His voice had risen a notch.<br/><br/>“I don’t know!” Stinger snapped, looking down and scuffing the toe of his boot against the floor. “You just might be… calmer about the whole thing.”<br/><br/>Then Spada realized why Stinger and Naga had picked him. They were intensely private—part of the reason there was still no public acknowledgment that the pair were, in fact, dating. Naga had to be embarrassed, at the least, about this. More likely, he was utterly mortified that he was losing control in front of Stinger and needed help, desperately. Balance seemed to also understand the issue, as he’d helped procure suppressants that worked before. They likely figured that Spada would be able to separate what they all did physically together from their working relationship as Kyuurangers. Maybe. He didn’t know. Like he’d said—vanilla.<br/><br/>“How bad is this?” he asked softly.<br/><br/>“Bad,” Stinger whispered, rubbing his arm, eyes bright. “He has to have someone else there—it lasts even longer if he’s by himself. There were… things… I had to do last time, practically hurting both of us, in order for him to get through it.”<br/><br/>Was he really going to tell Stinger no? Not at all. The health and safety of one of his friends was at risk. This would be awkward and uncomfortable and, “I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to go through with it once we get there, Stinger,” he murmured. “But I will try.”<br/><br/>Stinger looked both relieved and terrified.<br/><br/>“When is the next one?”<br/><br/>“Tonight.”<br/><br/>“What?” He hadn’t meant to exclaim that as loudly as he did.<br/><br/>Stinger’s flush grew more, creeping down his neck. “That’s why he wasn’t at dinner. He could feel it starting and his stomach hurt.” He exhaled shakily. “I checked on him after dinner, and it’s definitely started. I was hoping we had a few days. But…” He trailed off, looking miserable. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.<br/><br/>“It’s okay,” Spada said quickly, wracking his mind. He wished he had more time to mentally prepare himself for this, but, what was the expression? Rip the band-aid off. (And, if he was honest with himself, yes, the few experiences with relationships and sex in his life had been with women, but he was finding himself more and more attracted to Tsurugi. Which was annoying because Tsurugi seemed to be mostly oblivious to anything except himself.) “Can you give me a few minutes?”<br/><br/>Stinger nodded, not meeting his gaze. “We’re in my room.” Another shaky breath. “I’ll leave the door unlocked. Just come in and lock it behind you.”<br/><br/>And then Stinger was gone. Spada let out a long breath that he hadn’t been aware he was holding. What the hell? What in the actual hell had he just agreed to? He was still going to Stinger’s room, and he assumed Stinger had all the necessary supplies—and protection—they needed to go through with this. But did they need something else? Water, food? He could bring some bottles of water, sure. Maybe even the ones infused with lime and strawberry that Stinger liked (but would never admit to liking.) He also had some of the oatmeal raisin cookies that Stinger liked (but, again, would deny if asked.) Did he have something on hand that was a favorite of Naga’s? He wracked his brain, trying to come up with a single food that Naga liked. Nothing was coming up. Naga just ate and didn’t express a preference for anything. Stinger probably knew.<br/><br/>He almost started laughing hysterically about how ridiculous trying to find their favorite foods was right now. They had more pressing matters. But still, he couldn’t turn off the chef part of him—the part that wanted to comfort people with their favorite things to eat and drink after some unpleasant. That was likely too mild a word for this. He shook himself and gathered the items, figuring he could claim hydration if Stinger asked or gave him a stare.<br/><br/>They’d likely wasted too much time already.<br/><br/>Putting the canvas bag with the items over his shoulder and trying to quell the nervousness he felt, he walked quickly down to the dormitory wing, glad no one else was wandering the halls. He could distantly hear a movie and what sounded like a rowdy card game in the farthest common room, Balance’s voice carrying over everyone else’s. That was not a coincidence. Balance cared a lot about Naga and the impromptu party had to be his doing to keep the others distracted, not asking questions.<br/><br/>Stinger’s door was open, as he promised.<br/><br/>Spada slipped inside and locked the door behind him.<br/><br/>When he turned to face the bed, he paused, not sure what he’d been expecting.<br/><br/>Stinger clearly knew how to make things go the best, he assumed. The bed had been stripped of blankets and pillows, down to only the sheet. (The items were piled on a storage container at the end of the bed.) The overhead lights were off—the only light in the room was from a soft nightstand lamp. Stinger had lube and condoms on the bed, near enough to grab. The part he had not been expecting, he guessed, was for Stinger and Naga to already be naked and on the bed. Naga was on his knees, straddling Stinger’s lap, hands scrabbling at his shoulders and making needy noises. His skin was flushed, and he didn’t even acknowledge Spada enter the room.<br/><br/>Alternately, Stinger looked relieved, eyes meeting Spada’s. He had one hand cradling Naga’s head, fingers through his hair, while the other hand was already working him open.<br/><br/>“Stinger, I—”<br/><br/>“I’m sorry,” Stinger interrupted. “I was going to wait until you got here, but he was already so far gone that I needed to do something.”<br/><br/>Spada shook his head, setting the bag on the desk and inching towards the bed. “What do you need me…” but he trailed off. Something wasn’t right. He hadn’t actually felt any desire, sexual or otherwise, upon entering the room. Really had not been sure how he was going to get it up enough to help them out here, but now, he weirdly felt… hot. Flushed. Maybe even a little turned on by the situation. “What is this?” he muttered.<br/><br/>“Pheromones,” Stinger ground out. Spada could see now why Stinger locked the pair of them away when Naga was going through this—he didn’t want others to unwittingly come into contact with the pheromones Naga was releasing. Spada ran a finger under his collar. The room felt hot, his pants felt tight. No wonder Stinger appeared sweaty, flushed and very definitely turned on.<br/><br/>Spada knew his mouth was hanging wide open and he was staring.<br/><br/>“Take your clothes off.”<br/><br/>Stinger’s voice interrupted his thoughts and his mouth snapped closed.<br/><br/>“We’re both going to have to—” Stinger cut himself off abruptly, but Spada knew exactly what he meant. His hands were shaking, but he managed to unzip and shrug off his jacket, toe out of his shoes, and unbutton his shirt. They were going to have to open Naga up enough to take both of them. That’s why Stinger had him in the position he did—on his knees, straddling his lap. Spada would be able to get behind him and they’d work together to finish this. And Stinger had Naga facing him, so if he got startled or scared or needed something, Stinger would be right there to catch him, to make everything better.<br/><br/>And, honestly, that was what impressed Spada the most about their relationship. Naga trusted Stinger wholly and without reservation. Even little things, like a new food to try or song to listen to. If Stinger said that Naga would like something, he believed him. Naga trusted Stinger to look out for him, protect him. And Stinger did. Spada had overhead one of their conversations after they got Naga back from Akenba. Stinger had actually been apologizing to Naga, saying that he should have recognized the signs that she was manipulating him. Naga just shook his head in response, tears running down his cheeks as his fists clenched Stinger’s jacket. <em>Not your fault</em> and then <em>Never letting you go again</em>.<br/><br/>For a while, Spada had wondered what Stinger got out of the relationship. Everything appeared rather one-sided, with Stinger taking care of Naga. But then he realized, Naga adored Stinger, and Stinger basked in that attention. The doting was obvious after a while—Naga would make sure to save Stinger’s favorite foods for him, make sure no one else sat in the armchair he liked, constantly suggested the two Circuit movies Stinger liked for them to watch. And Stinger would observe everything with a tiny smile, pleased that someone cared that much about him.<br/><br/>Spada somehow managed to get his clothes off and not make a fool of himself in the process.<br/><br/>He approached the bed slowly, one knee resting on the edge. This close, he could see how far things had progressed before he got here. Naga was sweating, rocking against Stinger. Spada could not quite see, but he assumed Naga was hard and searching for some friction. His fingers were biting into Stinger’s skin, leaving marks and the needy noises coming out of him were punctuated when he would press his lips to Stinger’s skin or look up, searching for a kiss. And Stinger would oblige him, long and loving and plundering his mouth. Stinger was in no better state, but seemed much more aware.<br/><br/>Somehow, he’d missed how <em>nice</em> both of them looked. Naga was lean and graceful, even in his frenzied and incoherent state, hair still falling in straight lines in spite of the sweat and Stinger’s fingers running through the strands. Stinger was built more warrior-like, muscles obvious, thighs straining as he kept Naga upright. Spada was staring, mouth open again, as he watched Stinger thread his tail around Naga’s waist, using the limb to keep Naga from slumping over.<br/><br/>“Spada.”<br/><br/>He snapped out of it, blinking up to Stinger.<br/><br/>“Help me,” Stinger said. He nudged Naga to press his face to his shoulder. Spada finished getting on the bed, finally close enough to feel the body heat from both of them. He glanced down, seeing where Stinger had three fingers inside Naga, spreading them a little. Hands shaking, he grabbed the bottle of lube, pouring some over his fingers.<br/><br/>Before he started helping Stinger open up Naga, he ran a free hand down Naga’s back, just in a simple comforting gesture. He stopped when he got to Stinger’s tail, still wrapped around Naga’s waist. Naga shivered at the touch and made a noise. Distressed? Content? Startled? Spada wasn’t really sure, and a pang went through him. The pheromones were making him want to slam himself against Naga and do… <em>something</em>. But the rational part of him knew this would need planning and he needed to pay attention to any instructions Stinger had.<br/><br/>“It’s just Spada,” Stinger murmured to Naga. “Remember? We talked about this.”<br/><br/>Naga nodded, but threaded his arms around Stinger’s shoulders, trying to get closer to him.<br/><br/>“Hey,” Stinger whispered, “You’re going to be okay. This will work.” He lowered his hand a little, massaging Naga’s neck. “I’ve got you. I love you.”<br/><br/>“I love you too,” Naga ground out, voice hoarse. From the relatively awkward angle he was, Spada thought Naga might have been trying to say more, but instead, a tear rolled down his cheek.<br/><br/>“Stinger?” Spada questioned.<br/><br/>“Deep breath,” Stinger continued saying to Naga. “I know you’re scared. But I’m right here. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”<br/><br/>Stinger got Naga to press his face to his shoulder again. A muffled noise came out of Naga, equal parts distressed and needy. Spada didn’t feel great about continuing with this, but the pheromones made sure he was rock hard and ready to go. The only thing that made him feel better about the entire situation was Naga mumbling, “Okay. Let’s go.”<br/><br/>Spada rubbed his fingers together, warming up the lube. He reached down, fingers joining Stinger’s. He slowly added one finger to Stinger’s three. Everything was hot and tight and they were going to need much more lube. Stinger gently spread his fingers as Spada added more lube to his fingers. They needed to be slow and careful and not hurt Naga. The pheromones were doing a number on him. Spada inhaled sharply, trying to ignore his own need as they concentrated on the task at hand. Naga made a surprised noise when Spada slid in a second finger, using his free hand to coat their fingers with more lube. Maybe the cold lube surprised him. Either way, Naga buried his face against Stinger’s neck. Hand on Naga’s hip for some leverage, Spada gently spread his fingers.<br/><br/>“Add another,” Stinger said softly, voice ringing loud in the too quiet room. Spada’s heart dropped to his stomach when Naga made a distressed noise at the instruction. Stinger made a soothing sound for Naga, singing just a little bit, using the non-stinger end of his tail to rub Naga’s back. <em>That</em> was perhaps something else Spada admired about their relationship. Stinger had gotten much more overt in his displays of affection since Akenba. One evening, Spada had been clearing dishes from the bridge (dinner had been served there), and he caught the pair of them sitting in the chairs along the edge of the bridge. Stinger had an arm around Naga’s shoulders, and Naga’s head was resting on Stinger’s shoulder. And Stinger was singing softly. Naga had looked like he’d been crying. Spada had no idea the context for any of that, but found Stinger taking care of Naga to be endearing.<br/><br/>He couldn’t really say how the hell Stinger’s and Naga’s relationship started, how two very different people, who didn’t even run in the same social circles on their small ship, found each other, let alone started dating. Just one day, Kotaro caught them kissing in some corner of the ship. And promptly told everyone. To which Balance responded with a <em>pft</em> and, <em>“I knew that. Tell me something interesting.”</em> But out of character for Balance, when everyone immediately tried to press him for details, he dodged all the questions and said he had work to do, running out of the room. Balance was keeping Naga’s secrets and obviously didn’t want to betray his best friend’s confidence.<br/><br/>“I think we’re good,” Stinger was saying, pulling Spada from his thoughts. “Naga?” And he got a quick nod against his shoulder. “Put on a condom,” Stinger said to him. Spada felt Stinger spread his fingers further, keeping Naga open while he compiled. His hands were shaking as he opened the wrapper and unrolled the condom over himself. He understood how Stinger wanted this to go, and replaced Stinger’s fingers with his own while Stinger did the same. Stinger also got the lube, adding more.<br/><br/>“What next?” Spada asked, voice shaking, sweat rolling down his back.<br/><br/>“You go first,” Stinger replied. “Things will get <em>different</em> once we start.”<br/><br/>Spada had no idea what that meant, but he added more lube and followed the instruction, sliding in next to Stinger’s fingers. The noise Naga made was indescribable, like extreme pleasure, but more than that, primal satisfaction. Like someone was finally doing something he wanted. Naga raised his head from Stinger’s shoulder, tipping back in pleasure. Then Stinger removed his fingers and carefully nudged Naga up onto his knees a little more, pushing in too.<br/><br/><em>Different</em> was an understatement for what happened next.<br/><br/>Any fear or discomfort Naga had been expressing earlier was completely gone. He was <em>into</em> this, body hot and slicked with sweat, flushing almost red. Nothing coherent came out of him, just noises of pleasure and need. Spada had his hands on Naga’s hips, just to balance himself. Stinger had clearly not been expecting Naga to just take over and do what he wanted, but was doing his best to keep up. Naga was moving and they just need to follow his rhythm, which was a little erratic and a little too rough for the situation. Spada was afraid Naga would get hurt, but the pheromones made him not care as much as he would under normal circumstances.<br/><br/>Spada was concentrating on the feel of the rhythm, of Naga’s skin against his, when he was snapped out of his temporary fog by Stinger making a low, pained noise. And he saw what happened. Lost in pleasure, Naga had bitten down, directly on Stinger’s collarbone. Stinger got a hand through Naga’s hair, rubbing his scalp. “Naga, babe,” Stinger was saying, teeth clenched in pain. “You need to let go. It’s okay. Come on.” Naga released him, but didn’t seem to realize what had just happened.<br/><br/>“Are you okay?” Spada questioned.<br/><br/>“No fangs,” was the pained response, “It will bruise, might need a sling, but I don’t think he cracked the bone.”<br/><br/>“Should you—”<br/><br/>“No. We need to finish this. I’ll have Raptor look at it in the morning.”<br/><br/>Luckily, Naga seemed to be reaching the conclusion of <em>this</em>. He was moving more frantically, hips losing whatever semblance of a rhythm he had. “Naga, slow down,” Spada mumbled. But Naga kept going.<br/><br/>“Spada,” Stinger was saying. “Just let go. You need to finish and then he’ll—”<br/><br/>“I got it.”<br/><br/>Spada knew, objectively, the pheromones were making him feel this way, but the sensations here were unlike anything else he’d ever felt. Naga’s body was hot and moved against him in a way that was needy and primal and <em>amazing</em>. Even though he and Stinger weren’t really touching (except in a really intimate way), even Stinger felt good right now. Stinger was obviously still in a little bit of pain, but his focus was entirely on Naga. <em>Che cavolo</em>, was he actually <em>jealous</em> of them right now?<br/><br/>Then he realized, “Stinger, don’t you need to…”<br/><br/>“Yes,” his voice was still in a little pain. “Just give me a minute.”<br/><br/>Stinger still had his hand in Naga’s hair and nudged him to raise his head. Naga did so with little prompting, and Stinger pulled him in for a long kiss, practically plundering his mouth. That was <em>hot</em>, and Spada’s fingers bit into Naga’s hips. Naga was clearly far gone, nipping at Stinger’s bottom lip and making a whining noise for more. Stinger obliged him, starting another long, deep kiss. When the kiss broke, Stinger moved faster, hips meeting Naga’s erratic movements. Spada tried to keep up with him, but he was so close, balls drawing up tight, familiar shivers of pleasure running down his spine.<br/><br/>After another few movements, he came, gripping Naga’s hips too tightly and face pressed to Naga’s shoulder.<br/><br/>Stinger followed him, making a low noise, fingers tightening in Naga’s hair.<br/><br/>And finally, Naga came, making a noise that was louder than anything Spada thought Naga was capable of, mixed with pleasure and completion, guttural. Sounded like the noise hurt. Naga slumped against Stinger, and he had to use his tail and both arms to keep Naga upright.<br/><br/>“Pull out,” Stinger said hoarsely, “Then I’ll get him settled.”<br/><br/>Suddenly exhausted, anxious about what they’d just done and worried about Naga, Spada did his best, slowly pulling out and helping Stinger keep Naga upright. Stinger followed, and then Spada backed up enough to let Stinger lower Naga onto the bed. Naga had gone completely limp, tears on his cheeks. The moment he was laying on the bed, he tried to curl into a fetal position. They both quickly got rid of the condoms in a wastebasket by the bed. Stinger, favoring his right arm, examined Naga quickly, before saying, “It’s over, thank the gods.”<br/><br/>“Now what?”<br/><br/>Naga whimpered. Stinger ran his fingers through his hair comfortingly. Spada glanced at the small clock on Stinger’s nightstand and did a double-take. They’d been in the room for three hours.<br/><br/>“I’ll get him cleaned up a little. Hopefully he’ll be ready to take a shower soon and I can change the sheets.” A long sigh. “And then he usually sleeps for twelve hours.” Stinger was still moving a little slowly, still avoiding his left arm, but he moved to get out of bed. Unsure of what else to do, Spada got up and located his shorts, pulling them on.<br/><br/>“Do you need help? That looks bad,” he commented, gesturing towards the bruise.<br/><br/>“It’s okay. I’ve got him. Thank you. Really.” Stinger looked vulnerable for a moment, but then winced when he tried to move his left shoulder. “And <em>this</em> is not good, but I’ll live.” Stinger grabbed his shorts and slowly pulled them on.<br/><br/>“I’ll get out the food I brought,” Spada said as Stinger went into the bathroom and came back out with the damp washcloth and a small hand towel. He quickly and efficiently cleaned up Naga a little, and then cleaned his own stomach. Stinger had clearly had experience with this. He went to the foot locker on the end of the bed, and grabbed a patchwork blanket and a handmade plush animal. He went to hand Naga the stuffed animal, but Naga weakly pushed it away.<br/><br/>“Naga,” Stinger said gently. “Come on.”<br/><br/>Naga shook his head against the mattress, shoulders shaking with silent sobs.<br/><br/>“I should go,” Spada said, pulling on his pants and his shirt. “He needs quiet.”<br/><br/>“Naga needs to stop being stubborn,” Stinger tossed out gently. He ran his fingers through Naga’s hair. “Stop trying to save face. No one cares that you want your blanket and elephant.”<br/><br/>“An elephant?” Seemed an odd animal to pick.<br/><br/>Stinger actually smiled a little. “He saw one at a zoo on Earth and thought they were cute. Wasn’t hard to make a stuffed animal version of one.” The plush was made of gray fleece and slightly larger than standard. And Spada saw why when Naga relented and grabbed the animal, burying his face in the fleece and wrapping an arm around the plush. Stinger covered Naga with the blanket. He’d obviously made both things and Naga seemed to find a lot of comfort in them.<br/><br/>Spada smiled a little, and grabbed the rest of his things. “There’s some strawberry-lime water in the bag, and some cookies.”<br/><br/>“Lemon?”<br/><br/>He blinked. “A few.” He’d put an assortment in the container.<br/><br/>“Naga loves lemon cookies.”<br/><br/>Noted.<br/><br/>Preparing to leave, Spada glanced at Naga and couldn’t help but ask, “Is he—”<br/><br/>“Sucking his thumb? Yeah.” Stinger sat down on the bed, continuing to run his fingers through Naga’s hair. “If we’re tired, it’s worse for Naga.” He sighed. “He’s like this for a while, but only for a little while.”<br/><br/>“Take care of yourself, Stinger.”<br/><br/>“I’m good.” Spada shook his head. “Really, Spada, thank you.”<br/><br/>Naga needed space and quiet, so he left.<br/><br/><em>Che cavolo</em>, what the hell had just happened?<br/><br/>------------------<br/><br/>Spada hadn’t sorted through his own feelings or processed anything that had happened when he got up, bleary-eyed, and went to the galley to prepare breakfast. He decided on something simple he could make on autopilot and found the familiar motions comforting. The others wandered in slowly, still talking about the card game last night. Garu apparently lost a lot of whatever the betting currency had been. Jellybeans and marshmallows?<br/><br/>He honestly hadn’t been expecting to see Naga or Stinger, which was probably why he was so shocked when Stinger came in, left arm in a sling, jacket over his shoulders. He was leading Naga, holding his hand, who was trailing behind and clearly didn’t want to be in the galley. Naga had also been crying—eyes red, cheeks wet. Stinger sat Naga down at one end of the table and went to the counter. And began making some instant oatmeal with surprising grace, given he was doing it one-armed. Naga hunched in his seat, trying not to cry.<br/><br/>Which prompted Balance to be loud and distract everyone else.<br/><br/>Which meant Tsurugi matched the volume.<br/><br/>Which meant no one was looking at Naga, and Spada could feel a headache coming on. But he was impressed with how easily Balance caused a distraction.<br/><br/>Spada went over to the counter and grabbed the second bowl of oatmeal, because the first hurdle Stinger seemed to encounter was how to carry two bowls with one arm. Stinger sounded as exhausted as he looked when he asked, “Are there any blueberries?”<br/><br/>“Si, we have some fresh ones. I’ll go get them.” Spada paused before heading to the cooler and said in an undertone. “You said he normally sleeps for twelve hours. It hasn’t been that long.”<br/><br/>“I know.” Stinger scrubbed his good hand over his eyes.  “It was over a lot faster this time and he woke up at the normal time. And then freaked out about my shoulder. I told him I’d go get breakfast and he could stay in bed, but he wanted to make sure I went to the infirmary. So we came here.” Stinger experimentally moved his shoulder a little. “I won’t need the sling in another hour or so.”<br/><br/>Spada glanced over at Naga, who was clearly exhausted and miserable. He was hunched over in his seat, shoulders shaking. “Shouldn’t he just go back to bed?”<br/><br/>“I’m going to make him take more painkillers and a sleep aid after breakfast.”<br/><br/>He nodded. “You both want blueberries?”<br/><br/>“No. Just Naga. He likes them.”<br/><br/>“What do <em>you</em> want on your oatmeal?”<br/><br/>Stinger looked a little startled, like no one had ever asked him that before. Spada was willing to bet money Naga knew exactly how Stinger liked his oatmeal. (Since Stinger clearly knew <em>exactly</em> what Naga wanted on his food.) “Strawberries,” he answered after a long pause, then tacked on, “If we have them, that is.”<br/><br/>“Si. I’ll go get both.”<br/><br/>He set down the bowl on the counter and headed into the cooler. He’d already prepped most of the fresh fruit and vegetables two days ago, so they really needed to use up the items soon. He grabbed a portion of blueberries and a portion of chopped strawberries. When he got out of the cooler, he used the fruit to top the bowls of oatmeal. Stinger then carried Naga’s back to the table, while Spada carried Stinger’s. Naga was crying a little now, and seemed to shrink away from Spada. He felt a pang at first, not wanting Naga to be afraid of him, but he realized after a moment, Naga wasn’t afraid. He was <em>embarrassed</em>. <em>Che cavolo</em>, Naga and Stinger were a pair, both more likely to retreat than be humiliated.<br/><br/>They got settled with their oatmeal.<br/><br/>Balance and Tsurugi were still being incredibly loud.<br/><br/>Spada tried to tune everything out as he concentrated on cleaning up the cooking dishes from breakfast and some of the serving dishes they were done with. He hadn’t eaten anything yet, his stomach felt unsettled. Maybe he’d do what Stinger and Naga were doing and try some plain oatmeal. Maybe even some yogurt with granola. Something light.<br/><br/>He glanced back to the table and seemed to realize the same thing Stinger did. Naga was reaching critical mass and would need to go somewhere else to break down. Luckily, the bowls Stinger used had lids that would keep the food warm. Spada grabbed the lids and a cloth carrying bag. Naga was audibly sobbing now and had caught Kotaro’s attention, the boy looking worried at Naga and then to Stinger. Spada quickly put the lids on the bowls and put them in the bag. Stinger nodded his thanks and grabbed the bag, then tugged Naga up and out of his seat.<br/><br/>“I’ll bring you some tea in a little while,” Spada said after him.<br/><br/>“Is Naga okay?” Kotaro asked earnestly.<br/><br/>“He will be. He’s just going through a hard time right now.”<br/><br/>“Do you have the Berry Alpine tea?”<br/><br/>Spada blinked and looked at Kotaro. “What?”<br/><br/>“Berry Alpine tea. Aniki said it’s Naga’s favorite. With some honey.”<br/><br/>Before he could stop himself, Spada asked Kotaro, “Did Stinger mention anything else that Naga really likes?”<br/><br/>Kotaro nodded. “All kinds of things. Grilled cheese sandwiches with turkey and tomatoes. Butter croissants. Fruit salad. Apple cobbler. Lemon cookies. Oh, the vegetable sushi you made the other night!”<br/><br/>He knew the lemon cookies, but filed away the rest.<br/><br/>Breakfast was over soon enough.<br/><br/>Spada finished putting all the dishes in the cleaner and brewed the tea. He drizzled some honey into the brew, and then fixed a cup of black decaf coffee for Stinger. (He figured Stinger was going back to bed too and wouldn’t want too much caffeine.) He took the drinks down to the dormitory wing and knocked on Stinger’s door. He got a soft, “Come in,” in response.<br/><br/>He wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he came into the room, but the scene in front of him was <em>endearing.</em> Naga was in bed, fitfully dozing. He had changed from his day clothes and into a pair of navy blue plaid pajama pants, a gray t-shirt and a gray cardigan-style sweater. He also wore socks and fuzzy slippers. He was haphazardly covered with the blanket Stinger had made, clutching his elephant. His face was still tear-streaked, dark circles under his eyes evident.<br/><br/>Stinger was sitting in a chair at the end of the bed, feet up on the chest. He’d taken his jacket off his shoulders and his boots were off. His arm was still in the sling, but he looked calm, albeit tired. His socks were mismatched and there was a hole in the toe of his right sock.<br/><br/>Spada set the tea on the nightstand and handed Stinger the coffee. “It’s decaf.” Stinger nodded his thanks. “You okay?”<br/><br/>“Yeah.” Stinger smiled a little. “He crashed the moment we got here. I’ll wake him up in a minute to drink his tea and take the painkillers and sleep aid.” The smile continued as Stinger gazed at Naga fondly. “Didn’t give him the quilt, just his blanket. Once he’s cozy and warm, he’s <em>out</em>.” Again with surprising grace, Stinger took off the sling with one arm, still holding his coffee and tossed the sling on top of the chest.<br/><br/>“Want me to bring you guys lunch later?”<br/><br/>“I don’t know if we’ll be awake at lunchtime, but sure. As long as it will keep, I appreciate it.”<br/><br/>“No problem.” Spada tried not to quirk a smile. “Nice socks.”<br/><br/>Stinger turned his gaze to his socks. One was orange and black argyle pattern, while the other was dark gray with white spots. The orange sock had the hole. His wiggled his exposed toe. “I should really fix that,” he muttered.<br/><br/>“Are you sure everything is okay?”<br/><br/>“No,” Stinger exhaled harshly. “This is very obviously getting worse and I need to find <em>someone</em> whose an actual medical professional who can help us.” He sighed. “Naga is a Kyuranger. He’s a damned hero, and his entire system turned their backs on him, tried to have him killed for gaining emotions. It’s not fair. He doesn’t deserve this.”<br/><br/>Spada shook his head, agreeing softly, “No, he doesn’t.” He then added, “Get him his painkillers. He needs a lot more sleep than he got.”<br/><br/>And he left the room.<br/><br/>Yes, he was officially jealous of Stinger and Naga.<br/><br/>He knew he needed more sleep and needed to process what he had helped them with, but his jumbled thoughts that morning were leading him to believe that finding some casual sex of his own might help him separate out <em>this</em>, assuming Stinger and Naga needed his help again.<br/><br/>Maybe he should just go in Tsurugi’s room and tell him to take his pants off?<br/><br/>That might actually work.<br/><br/><br/><strong>2/ I don’t know how I’m going to win. I just know I’m not going to lose.<br/><br/></strong>A month later, Stinger leaned against the headboard of the bed. He’d gotten washed up and then got Naga comfortable enough to sleep, curled up with his elephant under his blanket. He had on a soft pair of black pajama pants. Naga was close to his side, and he idly ran his fingers through Naga’s hair in a comforting pattern. Naga was dozing, not quite deeply asleep, thumb in his mouth. Spada had gotten dressed, but had, once again, brought food and seemed eager to figure out if something was new with them.<br/><br/>Another month. But at least the same results had happened and Spada had agreed to help them again. Naga didn’t like the situation, but understood and agreed this was the safest and fastest course of action.<br/><br/>Spada finally asked what he meant with, “How did Naga get the scars on his back? And where did the tattoo on his shoulder come from?”<br/><br/><em>“How do married couples on your planet show they are committed to each other?”<br/><br/></em><em>“You mean like wedding rings and marriage ceremonies?”<br/><br/></em><em>“Yes.”<br/><br/></em><em>“I mean, that’s pretty much it these days, although we do make our own jewelry. My grandfather used to tell stories about ancient rituals, but those died out centuries ago.”<br/><br/></em><em>“What were they?”<br/><br/></em><em>“Well, we’re Scorpion warriors, right? All of us have a stinger and poison. People apparently used to deliberately sting their partner on their back, steering clear of the spine and lungs. They would only inject a little poison, enough to taste it, but not enough to do any harm. Three or four stings, each person would take a turn, but that was how they marked each other. Seeing someone with those scars meant they were taken and you needed to move on, or else your honor as a Scorpion warrior would be gone.”<br/><br/></em><em>“Scars, huh?” A pause, and then, “I don’t have a stinger, but I do have fangs and venom. You could sting me, but I would have to bite you.”<br/><br/></em><em>“Naga, these things were barbaric and no one does them anymore, for a reason. Too much can go wrong. You could accidentally inject too much venom, you could sting too close to a vital organ or artery. The marks could flat-out get infected and you’d die from an infection.”<br/><br/></em><em>“But then, even if we have to have someone else there when I’m in heat, everyone would still know that we belong to each other.”<br/><br/></em><em>“Is that what this is about? Naga, I love you. Nothing is changing that, no matter what. I am committed to you for the rest of my life.”<br/><br/></em><em>A tear, and then, “I know. I just… I really only like it when you touch me.”<br/><br/></em><em>“Oh Naga…” and then offering, “My parents had matching tattoos. Maybe that’s something we can look into.”<br/><br/></em><em>“Balance knows how to do homemade tattoos.”<br/><br/></em><em>“I don’t believe that for a minute—he’s mechanical for starters. But yes, there is a way to do tattoos ourselves without going somewhere, but that’s also risky. Remember what I said about infection?”<br/><br/></em><em>A tear. “We’re together. I just want something symbolizing that.”<br/><br/></em><em>“Then let’s go get rings or something!”<br/><br/></em><em>“Stinger…”<br/><br/></em>And that explained how Stinger found himself in the infirmary with Naga at three in the morning, getting yelled at by Raptor, and defending that they didn’t want the scars healed. He just wanted to have everything cleaned and inspected for infections, and then be given proper antiseptic to take care of things while they healed. Because honestly? He had trouble denying Naga anything. Not that Naga was prone to asking for things, he actually wanted very little, but this entire situation was <em>awful</em> and Stinger’s heart ached for him and wanted to do anything to make him feel better.<br/><br/>Spada would have seen the tattoo and marks on Naga’s back, so no point in denying that.<br/><br/>“That’s…” Stinger trailed off. He almost said that was a long story, but that wasn’t true. The real truth was that Stinger was a pushover when Naga wanted something. Stinger hated amusement parks, but voluntarily went to one when Naga expressed interest. Hells, he’d bought Naga ice cream and played one of those stupid games to win Naga a prize. In fact, Stinger glanced across the room. The ridiculous orange octopus plush was sitting on Naga’s desk. Stinger had asked him why that one and Naga simply said he thought octopi were funny and the orange reminded him of Stinger.<br/><br/>“According to Raptor, you two decided to do prison tattoos in the middle of the night.”<br/><br/>Stinger glowered. “That is not what happened.”<br/><br/>“So what did happen?”<br/><br/>Stinger sighed. “I was telling Naga about ancient scarification rituals married couples used to do on my home planet. He thought that was a good idea, and then I tried to distract him by saying my parents had matching tattoos. It just kind of… escalated.”<br/><br/>“Where’d you even get the stuff to do a tattoo?”<br/><br/>“Combination of the engineering bay and a med kit.”<br/><br/>Spada looked at Naga’s exposed shoulder. “So he has the Scorpius System.” He looked up. “I assume you have the Ophiuchus System.”<br/><br/>Stinger nodded, shifting and turning enough so Spada could see the tattoo, in the exact same place where Naga’s was. “Mine looks better,” he said, flushing a little. “I did Naga’s first and was so nervous my hands were shaking.” By the time Naga did his, a few shots of firewhiskey had calmed him down considerably. He also blamed the same firewhiskey for agreeing to the scars. He didn’t regret any of that, just knew he would have put up more of a fight under normal circumstances.<br/><br/>“Raptor said you were drunk.”<br/><br/>Gods, Raptor talked too much. Stinger immediately protested, “No, I was tipsy. There’s a big difference.” Then he tacked on, “And Naga wasn’t <em>that</em> drunk.” Naga had way lower tolerance for alcohol than Stinger did, but still thought he could keep up. (He didn’t even like firewhiskey, but still tried to do what Stinger was doing. Luckily, Naga had not started drinking until after the tattoos and scars. And Stinger hadn’t been so far gone as to not see reason, hence the infirmary. Although Raptor had informed him, if he showed up in the infirmary drunk and having done something stupid ever again, she was putting him in a holding cell until he sobered up, searching his room and destroying any alcohol he had and banning him from drinking as long as he worked for Rebellion. So he was taking that threat seriously. The bottle of firewhiskey had been expensive. Granted, Balance paid, not him, but still. Principle of the thing.)<br/><br/>He leaned against the headboard, giving Spada a level look.<br/><br/>“Raptor tell you anything else interesting?”<br/><br/>“Just that Naga finally got refugee status from Rebellion and was looking for a system to join.” Spada got that stupid grin on his face before tossing out, “Because you two want to get married and can’t until he’s officially a citizen somewhere.”<br/><br/>“Balance,” Stinger muttered. He looked up, fixing Spada with narrowed eyes and a tiny glare. “<em>I</em> heard from Raptor that you and Tsurugi are currently doing the friends with benefits thing.”<br/><br/><em>That</em> made Spada blush and stammer, “No, we just like spending time together!”<br/><br/>“Naked, adult time together,” Stinger commented. He wasn’t sure why, but he asked, “You tell him about this weirdness?”<br/><br/>“Yes, and he thinks it’s legendary that I’m helping my friends.”<br/><br/>“He needs a new adjective.”<br/><br/>“He really does.”<br/><br/>Naga stirred a little, making an unhappy noise. He opened his eyes and looked up at Stinger, thumb out of his mouth. Time to get Naga bathed, get fresh sheets on the bed and take a large dose of painkillers before going to sleep. Spada set the bag of food on the nightstand, and said quickly, “There’s bottles of water, but also some tea in there. I also wasn’t sure what kind of snacks you would want this late, so there’s cookies, veggies, hummus and some cheese.”<br/><br/>“Spada, really, you don’t have to do this.”<br/><br/>He shrugged. “It’s something concrete I can do.”<br/><br/>Stinger didn’t point out the obvious, that Spada was already doing something very real and very tangible to help with this situation. Gods, Stinger had his own opinions on Spada suddenly jumping into bed with Tsurugi. Yes, this was difficult and not easy for any of them to process. And not fair to be asking this of someone else. But Spada was so centered and practical that Stinger was afraid this was some Spada version of acting out. But he was an adult. They were all adults. And if everyone was consenting, then who was Stinger to judge?<br/><br/>But he did ask, “Are you okay?”<br/><br/>“I’m fine,” Spada said quickly. “I’m going to make the hash brown casserole Naga really likes for breakfast in the morning.”<br/><br/>“He’ll enjoy that. We’ll be there.”<br/><br/>Spada left the room, calling, “Good night!”<br/><br/>“Night,” Stinger replied, listening to the door close. He looked down at Naga, who was awake, but hadn’t made a move to get out of bed. He gently brushed his hair from his forehead. “You ready to take a shower and soak in the tub for a while?” Naga shook his head, burying his face in his elephant. Stinger’s heart was in his stomach as Naga began to cry into the plush animal. Stinger scooted down on the bed and just pulled Naga, blanket and elephant and all, into his arms. He held him tightly, rocking him just a little bit as he sobbed in his arms. Stinger absolutely hated seeing Naga cry and hated even more when he couldn’t do anything about the reason for the tears. “Naga, babe,” he whispered. “What’s wrong?”<br/><br/>“I hate this.”<br/><br/>“I know you do, but it’s over.”<br/><br/>“Until next month.”<br/><br/>“Naga…” But he didn’t have any words to make this better. He held Naga as closely as he could, swallowing the lump in his own throat. He wanted to cry about this, but knew that was not going to help. Right now, Naga needed calm. And getting calm would start with being comfortable and he needed a shower in order to start making that happen. “Come on,” Stinger said gently, sitting up and starting the process of extracting the elephant from Naga’s arms.<br/><br/>“No,” Naga cried, sob coming out of him as Stinger moved the elephant to the end of the bed.<br/><br/>“Shower,” Stinger said firmly. “The elephant doesn’t do well in the shower.”<br/><br/>Naga seemed to be beyond protesting or arguing. He allowed Stinger to uncover him, take his blanket and load the item into the tiny cleaner in the room. He was still crying, but started shivering once the blanket was gone. Stinger crossed the room back to him, and tugged him off the bed and into the bathroom. He turned on the shower, turning the dials to a temperature Naga liked (just below scalding—Stinger disliked water that hot, but was willing to be uncomfortable so Naga would be.) He kicked off his pants and gently herded Naga into the shower. He was still crying, arms around his middle, like he was hugging himself. Gods. Stinger stepped in and pulled the shower stall door shut. He drew Naga into his arms under the hot water. “Shh,” he whispered against his temple.<br/><br/>“I can’t do this anymore,” was the broken sob that came next.<br/><br/>Stinger wanted to tell Naga he was exhausted and emotional, and they had talked through options so many times and nothing had worked out. There had to be <em>something</em> they hadn’t thought of, because the only idea they ruled out without trying was just going to the Ophiuchus System and demanding someone give them the suppressants. But maybe there was something there. Balance had broken in before, and if Naga could give them the basic security layout and they blackmailed someone like Echidna into helping them, there was a chance. Not much of a chance, but the slightest hope was still there. The whole idea was likely a fool’s errand, but Naga was so desperate and miserable right now, Stinger would do literally anything to make him feel safe.<br/><br/>Their relationship had started small. After his brother died, Stinger insisted everyone throw a party for Champ’s return, while he went to the surface on Earth to effectively bury his brother. He wanted to be alone, process what he was feeling. The party was long over when he returned to the ship, so he just went straight to his room. He’d barely gotten through taking off his boots when there was a soft knock on his door. Sighing, he opened the door, expecting Kotaro, and found Naga.<br/><br/>Naga was holding a plate cover in seal-wrap.<br/><br/>“I didn’t think it was appropriate to have a party when you’re mourning,” Naga had said in that oddly flat tone of his back then. “I know you said to have the party, but I thought it was disrespectful to the dead. We always honor the dead.” He held out the plate. “I saved you some cake.”<br/><br/>None of those sentences belonged together, and Naga definitely had more context to each sentence. Even though Stinger didn’t know Naga very well at that time, in the moment, he could piece together what Naga was trying to say. He thought everyone should have been supportive of Stinger and helped him honor his brother, and not have the party. Later, he found out that the Ophiuchus System believed strongly in remembering their dead, and a huge remembrance ceremony took place over several days each year. Every person who died was named and their place in society listed, no matter if they were a janitor or government leader. Every part was important and needed to be honored. Even without emotions, the Ophiuchus System knew that everyone had to do their part for things to work. There was a strange beauty to that philosophy, something Stinger loved about the sentiment and he knew Naga strongly believed as well. The cake was simply because no one else thought to put back some food for Stinger and Naga privately found that oversight to be appalling as well.<br/><br/>Stinger had been touched. Someone who didn’t know him at all was thinking of him. Made him feel all warm and cozy.<br/><br/>Things progressed from there. Talking, Naga asking questions about sex and relationships, which led to a complicated discussion about how to get experience in those things and then Naga asked Stinger on a date. Spada didn’t know <em>that</em> tidbit about their relationship. Naga was straightforward and asked for what he wanted. Before Akenba, they’d had some wild nights, fueled by energy drinks, a shot or two of firewhiskey, and an intense desire to just <em>explore</em> each other. Now, their sex life had all but ground to a halt because Naga was afraid of triggering a heat in between cycles.<br/><br/>If they ever figured out how to manage this, Stinger was thinking of trying out the whole romance thing with Naga. Soft lights, flower petals, bottle of wine, silk sheets… the works. He had a feeling that Naga would be very into <em>that</em>.<br/><br/>Naga’s crying was slowing, so Stinger gently released him, grabbed the body wash and a shower scrub, lathering the thing up and starting the process of getting them both soaped up. Shaking badly, Naga let Stinger do most of the work, only taking over to wash sensitive areas himself. Stinger then got himself scrubbed and rinsed, and grabbed the shampoo. He washed Naga’s hair and then his own, getting them both completely rinsed off. He hit the control panel for the tub, and picked a temperature and volume, along with some oatmeal powder.<br/><br/>He could feel Naga’s fingers running long his back, tracing the tattoo on his shoulder and then moving lower, feeling the puncture scars.<br/><br/><em>“You pick a system yet?”<br/><br/></em><em>“No. There’s a few options. Maybe I’ll just join the Scorpius System.”<br/><br/></em>Stinger turned around, drawing Naga into his arms again. Naga settled against him with a sigh, arms threading around his waist.<br/><br/>The control panel went off, letting them know the tub was ready.<br/><br/>Stinger turned off the shower and open the door, grabbed a towel, and quickly getting the excess water out of their hair. Naga was still shaking a little, so Stinger helped him into the tub, put up the towel and asked softly, “Want me to get in with you?”<br/><br/>Naga nodded, moving forward so Stinger could sit behind him. And that was exactly what he did, sliding in behind Naga, who was between his legs, and pulling Naga back against his chest. Naga shifted his weight just a bit onto his hip and snuggled back against Stinger. He wrapped an arm around Naga, softly singing as Naga got comfortable and more of his weight was on Stinger.<br/><br/>“Stinger?”<br/><br/>“Yeah, babe?”<br/><br/>“Do we have painkillers in the room?”<br/><br/>“Yes.”<br/><br/>“Good.”<br/><br/>Stinger ran his fingers through Naga’s hair, pushing the damp strands away from his forehead. Naga sat up a little, looking at him. “What’s wrong?” Stinger asked softly.<br/><br/>“I don’t want to do this anymore.”<br/><br/>“What do you mean?”<br/><br/>“All this,” Naga clarified calmly. “With you and Spada. I don’t want to put you, any of you, through this anymore. It’s not fair.”<br/><br/>“Naga, you don’t exactly have a choice.”<br/><br/>“I do have a choice. And I’m not doing this anymore.”<br/><br/>Stinger cupped his cheek. “I know you’re in pain—”<br/><br/>“It’s not about that,” Naga replied quickly, covering his hand. “I mean, yes, it hurts afterwards. I’m not putting you through this anymore. I won’t do it. I’ll figure something out.”<br/><br/>“What if you didn’t have to?”<br/><br/>Naga gave him a sharp look. “What?”<br/><br/>“I just…” Stinger thought to his half-baked plan. “Can you give me and Balance a week? If we don’t find something by then, we’ll go to the Rebellion doctors, say this is a debilitating medical condition and they need to prioritize this.”<br/><br/>Naga’s eyes narrowed. “The last one was my plan. What are you and Balance going to do?”<br/><br/>“I don’t know yet, but I know you hate those doctors.”<br/><br/>“One week,” Naga agreed, and then snuggled back against him.<br/><br/>Stinger kept running his finger through Naga’s hair. “Spada left some snacks,” he commented neutrally. “Cookies, hummus, cheese,” which were all things Naga liked, and Stinger was hoping they would spark some interest. Naga just stayed cuddled against him. “You should drink some water before going to sleep, if nothing else.”<br/><br/>Naga sighed dramatically. “Fine.”<br/><br/>“The snacks or the water?”<br/><br/>“Both.”<br/><br/>In the end, Stinger got out of the tub a little before Naga and changed the sheets on the bed. He added the quilt and got Naga’s blanket out of the cleaner. He got dressed in a comfortable pair of pajama pants, and got clean clothes for Naga. He helped him out of the tub and get dressed. He felt a little better as Naga leaned against the headboard, elephant in his lap, drinking water and nibbling at the cookies. A few painkillers and a sleep aid, and they were curled under the covers. Stinger had his chest pressed to Naga’s back, arm and tail over his waist. Naga had one arm around his blanket and his elephant, and the other covering Stinger’s.<br/><br/>He hoped this would work.<br/><br/>------------------<br/><br/>“Fuck it. I’m just going to go to the Ophiuchus System.”<br/><br/>Stinger stared at Balance. They were currently in one of the engineering bays, far away from everyone else on purpose. In fact, they weren’t even really in the bay. They were inside one of the maintenance shafts that led to the ship’s secondary power core. Like spies on a space station. Balance even scanned for bugs. Which was stupid because they only person they really didn’t want in on their plan was Naga, and he was currently sound asleep up in the living quarters.<br/><br/>“How is that going to work?” Stinger shot back, exasperated. “Didn’t you steal something? Won’t they arrest you?”<br/><br/>They’d been talking in circles for what felt like hours. Only minutes had actually passed. Stinger’s patience was wearing thin, and the only reason he continued talking to Balance was because the annoying mechanical lifeform understood the problem. Balance also immediately spotted that Naga was at the end of his rope from the little Stinger had shared about their conversation. <em>“Oh Naga, buddy. I didn’t know it was that bad!”<br/><br/></em>Balance made a rude noise to Stinger’s questions.<br/><br/>“I didn’t actually steal anything,” was the rebuttal. “I left it there when Naga helped me escape.”<br/><br/>“That doesn’t mean they won’t arrest you.”<br/><br/>“I’ll just demand to see Echidna. She owes us.”<br/><br/>Stinger bit back his initial retort and tried to keep his voice calm when he ground out, “Explain.” Because as far as Stinger could tell. Echidna owed them nothing. In fact, they had no idea what happened to her when she got back to the Ophiuchus System. She had essentially failed in her mission to assassinate Naga and Stinger could not imagine she’d escape punishment for that, even if she did explain that Naga was a Kyuranger. She may have let Naga go and the Ophiuchus System may have decided to allow Naga to officially leave, but that meant nothing as far as Echidna’s fate went.<br/><br/>“Come on, we saved her from Naga!”<br/><br/>Stinger frowned. “How is that getting us any traction?”<br/><br/>“She probably didn’t put that bit in her official report.” If Balance had eyebrows, he’d be waggling them at this point.<br/><br/>“You’re going to blackmail her? That’s your plan?”<br/><br/>“Blackmail? No. She’s going to be hoisted by her own petard.”<br/><br/>“That’s the same thing.”<br/><br/>“Yeah, but mine sounds fancier!”<br/><br/><em>Gods</em>. Stinger rubbed his forehead, and muttered, “I think we actually owe her.”<br/><br/>“For not killing Naga? We don’t owe her crap.” Balance waved away the phrase. “It doesn’t matter anyways. They can’t hold me now, because I’m a Kyuranger and Rebellion will force them to extradite me.”<br/><br/>That was part was probably true.<br/><br/>“So you’re going to what exactly? Fly up and demand they let you land?”<br/><br/>“No,” now Balance sounded exasperated. “I’m going to announce I am a Kyuranger well in advance and say I need to see Echidna, then fly up and demand they let me land.”<br/><br/>This was a really stupid plan. Very likely Balance was going to get shot at before he landed or need Rebellion extradition if he did manage to land. And Naga was going to be <em>pissed</em> if anything happened to Balance on his behalf. Beyond pissed. “This is dumb and not likely to work. And Naga will never forgive either of us if something happens to you.”<br/><br/>Balance made the irritating <em>pft</em> noise again. “Nothing is going to happen to me!” He softened with, “But you’re right. Naga will never forgive us, so I’m going to succeed.”<br/><br/>Stinger wished he had Balance’s confidence in the plan.<br/><br/>Balance gave Stinger a long look. “I know it’s bad and Naga is at his limit, but how bad?”<br/><br/>“You know the plan we came up with?” A nod. “It’s helped the last two times, but Naga told me last night that he’s not doing it anymore. He hates involving someone else, and frankly, I think he hates that I’m involved.”<br/><br/>“You’re practically his fiancée!”<br/><br/>“I know, but he feels bad. And he said no more. I can’t force him to do anything. I <em>won’t</em> force him to do something he doesn’t want to.”<br/><br/>“Of course not. Naga understands consent. I had that talk with him multiple times.”<br/><br/>A wry smile came on Stinger’s face. “I know. The first time we… you know… he was very concerned about making sure I wanted to too.”<br/><br/>Balance shook his head. “Naga is a fucking gift to this universe.” He stood up. “Well, I’m off.”<br/><br/>“You’re leaving right now?”<br/><br/>“Yeah.”<br/><br/>“What are you telling Raptor? What am I telling Naga?”<br/><br/>“<em>I</em> am telling Raptor I’m going to pick up some supplies in the Sagittarius System. The Ophiuchus System is close enough that if she isn’t insane about tracking my flight path, I’ll get away with it. And <em>you</em> are telling Naga basically the same thing.” Balance picked up the canvas bag he had brought along and shoved the thing into Stinger’s arms. “That is a bunch of candy bars and chips that Naga really likes, and I figure you can bribe him with those if he gets difficult about lunch or dinner, which you know he’s going to do.”<br/><br/>Stinger peered into the bag. “Balance, these are the caramel ones from the Chameleon System! And the chips are only sold on Earth.”<br/><br/>“I have connections!”<br/><br/>He shook his head. Balance had a point. Luring Naga with junk food wasn’t a bad idea.<br/><br/>“So you are going to go back to you room, take care of Naga, and let me work my magic!”<br/><br/>“Balance—”<br/><br/>“I will be back tomorrow and send hourly check ins to Raptor. If she loses me, tell her the truth but swear her to secrecy.”<br/><br/>“I don’t like this.”<br/><br/>“You’re freaking next in line to become a commander. It’s your job to not like stupid reckless things. But I’m doing it. And you can’t stop me.”<br/><br/>“I would never dream of stopping you.”<br/><br/>“That’s because you’re smart.” Balance gave him an appraising look. “You know, I never really knew what Naga saw in you, why he liked you so much. But you’re okay.”<br/><br/>Coming from Balance, that was high praise.<br/><br/>“Bye!” And Balance skipped out of the maintenance shaft.<br/><br/>Stinger stayed for a minute, collecting his thoughts. Naga had taken painkillers and a sleep aid last night and almost didn’t get up for breakfast. He muddled his way through a serving of hash brown casserole and ignored the other stuff Stinger put on his plate. Giving up, Stinger gave the rest of Naga’s food to Kotaro, who eagerly downed the extra bacon, eggs and fruit. He got Naga back to their room, gave him more painkillers and put him back to bed.<br/><br/>He glanced at the time. Almost lunch.<br/><br/>Maybe he should go see what Spada was cooking for lunch.<br/><br/>Doubted he’d get Naga to eat much.<br/><br/>Then he remembered the giant bag of candy and chips he was currently holding.<br/><br/>Oh, Naga was eating lunch.<br/><br/>------------------<br/><br/>“Future Commander Stinger to Voyager Bay, please.” A pause and then, “Bring your fiancée.”<br/><br/>“What the hell, Balance?” Stinger muttered.<br/><br/>“Future Commander—”<br/><br/>“I got it, Balance!” Stinger interrupted, answering the page via his Seiza Blaster. “We’ll be there in a minute.”<br/><br/>“It’s cold in the Voyager Bay and I need real shoes,” Naga added.<br/><br/>“Roger that.”<br/><br/>They had been in bed. Stinger checked with Raptor and said Balance was sending his hourly check ins, but he also reported he’d been delayed by a few hours. Making a stop somewhere else before heading back. Stinger hadn’t been too worried, because he checked Balance’s flight pattern himself and he was far from Ophiuchus space, getting closer to the ship.<br/><br/>“He probably brought presents and can’t wait,” Naga commented as he stepped out of his slippers and found his sneakers. He was slipping on and tying the sneakers when he asked, “And why is he calling you ‘future commander’?”<br/><br/>“He seems to think I have a career with Rebellion.”<br/><br/>Naga smiled a little. “He’s silly.”<br/><br/>Stinger could only theorize that Balance’s journey had been successful, because he could not imagine including Naga in <em>any</em> of this if the trip had not been. Naga pulled on his sweater and stood up, indicating he was ready to go to the Voyager Bay. Stinger just got out of bed, found a shirt and followed him. The cold didn’t bother Stinger, because he ran hot and found the freezing Voyager Bay to be pleasant. Naga ran cold, and would probably need the heated blanket once they got back to the room.<br/><br/>The walk to the Voyager Bay was quiet. Naga slipped his hand into Stinger’s, threading their fingers together. Stinger liked this about being in a relationship with Naga. The quiet, the comfort, the small gestures that meant so much. Also the odd things that motivated Naga.<br/><br/><em>“Come on. Just eat half the sandwich. Then you can have a caramel bar and the spicy chips.”<br/><br/></em>Spada had been shocked by the junk food.<br/><br/><em>“Naga likes those things?”<br/><br/></em><em>“Just those two, but yes.”<br/><br/></em>Stinger had also noticed that Spada had been cooking what he knew Naga liked to eat. He sometimes forgot that the others didn’t know Naga that well, to the point that a few weeks ago, Spada didn’t even really know what Naga’s favorite foods were. There had been a lot of lemon cookies. And sadly enough, Naga was all but avoiding Spada, and Stinger knew that was because he was mortified and didn’t know how to face him. Spada seemed to understand that and was acting normally towards Naga, and Stinger was grateful for that small kindness. He’d privately talked to Spada a few times and their resident chef had just brushed him off.<br/><br/><em>“I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me. Raptor does that enough for everyone and she doesn’t even know what’s going on. I do need you to tell me what Naga wants for dinner, because our latest food requisition came in and I have a fully stocked pantry again.”<br/><br/></em>They got to the Voyager Bay as the airlock released and Balance was hopping out of Tenbin Voyager, waving as he went.<br/><br/>“Naga, buddy!” He stopped and gave Stinger a stare. “Future Commander.”<br/><br/>Stinger rolled his eyes. “Did you get it?”<br/><br/>“Get what?” Naga asked, looking between them.<br/><br/>“Oh, whoa. Hello to both of you,” Balance said with a touch of sarcasm. He had a messenger bag over his shoulder, and reached into the bag, yanking out a smaller plastic bag that was filled with bottles of pills. “Ta-da!” he presented with a flourish.<br/><br/>“Thank the gods,” Stinger breathed, grabbing the bag.<br/><br/>“What is that?” Naga asked. “What did you get?” He looked between Balance and Stinger. “What’s going on? Someone tell me, please.”<br/><br/>Stinger handed the bag to Naga, who frowned and inspected the pill bottles. He blinked and then looked up at Balance. “How did you get these?” he asked quietly.<br/><br/>“Went to the Ophiuchus System, duh,” Balance replied, hand on his hip.<br/><br/>Naga’s frown deepened. “They would have arrested you.”<br/><br/>“We had that worked out,” Stinger said quickly.<br/><br/>“Honestly,” Balance continued. “Touch and go for a minute, but Echidna came through.”<br/><br/>“Echidna?” Naga’s voice was small and confused. “Why would she help you?”<br/><br/>“Because she was hoisted—”<br/><br/>“He blackmailed her,” Stinger interrupted.<br/><br/>“You are no fun,” Balance informed him.<br/><br/>“You blackmailed Echidna and she just gave you the suppressants?’ Naga asked, looking from the pills to Balance to Stinger, and then back again.<br/><br/>Balance tilted his head to one side and admitted, “It was a little bit more complicated than that, but if I sum it up, yeah, that’s what happened.”<br/><br/>“She just gave you a months’ supply?”<br/><br/>“Oh no, she gave me six months!” Balance pointed at the bag. “That’s just five months there, because I stopped off at Rebellion headquarters on my way back and gave one month to the medical team there, and Doctor Miyuki is positive she can synthesize it into a formula where she can do an implant, and then you won’t even have to take pills. She’ll call you when it’s ready, but she thinks about two weeks.”<br/><br/>Naga blinked, lower lip trembling a little.<br/><br/>“And Echidna said you should take the first dose as soon as possible. Like right now, and then start daily doses. The last time was only what, three or four days ago, so you’ll be fine.”<br/><br/>A tear rolled down Naga’s cheek. “You did all that for me?” he whispered.<br/><br/>Balance shrugged. “You’re my best friend! Of course I did all that for you.” He added, “And Stinger helped me figure out a plan and knew what was actually going on so he could tell Raptor if something went really sideways. Which it didn’t. We’re all good.”<br/><br/>Naga stepped forward and hugged Balance, who returned the hug, patting his back.<br/><br/>“You’re going to be okay, buddy.”<br/><br/>“Thank you,” Naga murmured. He stepped back and glanced at Stinger. “I should apologize to Spada and tell him it’s over.”<br/><br/>“I’ll talk to him,” Stinger offered.<br/><br/>Naga shook his head. “I should—”<br/><br/>“Naga, bud, the only thing you should do tonight is take one of these pills, get your fiancée here to make you a snack, and then go to bed.”<br/><br/>Stinger narrowed his eyes. “What?”<br/><br/>Balance tried to look innocent. “I’m just saying that Naga said you make really good cinnamon rolls.” A pause, and then, “And really good brownies. Basically, you make good desserts, so your plan after this should be to open a small bakery in a tiny constellation system.”<br/><br/>“I thought I had a career with Rebellion.”<br/><br/>“That’s after that.”<br/><br/>Naga wiped his eyes and looked at Stinger. “Can you make strawberry bread? That’s fast, right?”<br/><br/>“Yes, I will make you strawberry bread. I think we have all the stuff.”<br/><br/>“Can I have some?” Balance asked.<br/><br/>“You don’t eat,” Stinger retorted.<br/><br/>“He wants to hang out with us for a while,” Naga translated. “And yes, you can.”<br/><br/>“Yay!”<br/><br/>Stinger slipped his hand into Naga’s as they left the Voyager Bay. Nothing with Jark Matter was certain, but for the first time in long time, he felt hopeful.<br/><br/><br/><strong>3/ There never was much hope. Only a fool’s hope.<br/><br/></strong>Stinger blinked awake in the middle of the night, not immediately certain what woke him up. He frowned, and then the noise started again. Stomach rumbling. Naga. He gently nudged Naga. “Naga, babe,” he said softly. “Wake up.”<br/><br/>Naga made an unhappy noise and stretched. “What’s wrong?” he asked sleepily. “Do you want to have sex again? Because that’s fine. I just need to get a snack after.”<br/><br/>Stinger smiled. “No, this was actually just about getting you a snack.” He paused. “Why would I wake you up in the middle of the night to have sex?”<br/><br/>“I woke you up in the middle of the night to have sex.”<br/><br/>“Oh yeah,” he smirked as he remembered.<br/><br/>One month had gone by and Naga officially had the implant from Rebellion doctors. No heats, no side effects. At first, Naga had been wary about having sex, but then reasoned that they had before Akenba with no problems, and this shouldn’t be different. Naga had been tense the first time, but then got relaxed and eager to the point that the middle of the night session happened. And Naga had not really eaten dinner that night because he had been so eager to get back to their room.<br/><br/>“Come on,” Stinger said. “Galley. Snack.”<br/><br/>Naga stretched again. Stinger sat up and got out of bed. He got Naga’s sweater from the foot of the bed and tossed the garment to him. Naga caught the thing easily, along with the shirt and pajama pants Stinger tossed him next. He found his own pajama pants and a shirt, not wanting to walk to the galley completely naked. He watched with a smile as Naga sat up and patted the bed next to him. “Where did my elephant go?” he asked.<br/><br/>“Other side.”<br/><br/>Naga patted the bed on the other side of him and hit his elephant. “Oh good. I thought I dropped it on the floor again.”<br/><br/>“What do you want to eat?”<br/><br/>“I want a cinnamon roll. Do we have some?”<br/><br/>“I think so.”<br/><br/>“Good.”<br/><br/>“Get dressed so we can go eat.”<br/><br/>“Oh right.” Naga pulled the shirt on—a tunic style gray one that Stinger had made—and then got up enough to get the pajama pants on. He got out of bed entirely, putting the sweater on, and finally located his slippers.<br/><br/>“You ready?”<br/><br/>“Yes. I should have eaten more dinner,” Naga admitted.<br/><br/>“I know,” Stinger replied and drew him close for a moment. “But you were eager.” He pressed a quick kiss to his lips and Naga hung on for more, sighing happily.<br/><br/>As they left the room and walked down the hall to the galley, Stinger was struck by how eerie and still everything was at this time of night. Hard to imagine anyone else would be around. Only the emergency lights were on and the rec room was undisturbed from a card game. Naga slipped his hand into Stinger’s, falling into step.<br/><br/>When they got to the galley, Stinger frowned. The lights were on. Weird.<br/><br/>Naga tugged his hand, making him stop. “What if someone else is in there?”<br/><br/>“It’s the galley. They shouldn’t be doing anything weird.”<br/><br/>“But we’re also going to the galley in the middle of the night,” Naga pointed out.<br/><br/>“You want a snack or not?”<br/><br/>“Yes.”<br/><br/>“Okay then.” Stinger opened the door to the galley and led Naga in. And stopped.<br/><br/>No one was naked, if that’s what Naga had been worried about seeing. But this was definitely a compromising situation. Something was baking in the oven and smelled delicious. Plates and cups of coffee were on the counter. Spada was sitting on the counter, shirt half off, arms and legs wrapped around Tsurugi, who was completely shirtless, and they were making out. <em>Hard</em>.<br/><br/>Stinger cleared his throat.<br/><br/>Spada immediately flushed and pushed Tsurugi away. Tsurugi looked annoyed.<br/><br/>“We’re just here to heat up some cinnamon rolls,” Stinger announced.<br/><br/>“Fridge,” Spada said, flustered. “Second shelf.”<br/><br/>Stinger walked over to the fridge and stepped inside, Naga following him quickly. In the walk-in fridge, Naga shivered and whispered, “What are they doing?”<br/><br/>“Letting off some steam, I guess,” Stinger replied, locating the cinnamon rolls, neatly packaged and dated with his own horrible penmanship.<br/><br/>“I don’t understand. They aren’t in love.”<br/><br/>Stinger shrugged, finding Naga’s utter confusion endearing. “Sometimes you just need a release.”<br/><br/>“Release?” Naga’s head tilted to the side.<br/><br/>“You know, like how we snuck back to our room the other afternoon because we were both horny? Some people want to do that without the relationship part.”<br/><br/>“That’s silly. Being in a relationship is good.”<br/><br/>“You and I are into serial monogamy. Other people are not.”<br/><br/>Naga frowned, turning over the information in his head, before he said definitively, “Well, Spada should get to have some fun. He spends all his time helping everyone else out.”<br/><br/>“That he should.”<br/><br/>They left the fridge, and Stinger put the cinnamon rolls into the smaller heater on the counter. Spada had put his shirt on correctly, and asked, “Do you guys want some tea?”<br/><br/>“I think Naga does,” Stinger said over his shoulder.<br/><br/>“Berry Alpine, right?” Spada asked Naga, who nodded.<br/><br/>Tsurugi still looked annoyed at being interrupted, but asked, “Why are you two up?”<br/><br/>“Naga was hungry.”<br/><br/>And that kicked Spada into immediately trying to feed him. “You really didn’t eat much at dinner,” he said. “There’s some leftovers in the fridge, but we also have lots of other stuff you can grab. I know you like cinnamon rolls, but you need some protein too.”<br/><br/>“Do we have some spicy hummus?” Naga asked softly. Stinger smiled as he watched out of the corner of his eye.<br/><br/>“Si,” Spada said. “I’ll grab that and some veggies and cheese.”<br/><br/>“Oh, I—” But Spada was already in the fridge.<br/><br/>“Just a hint,” Tsuguri said. “Let him feed you. He won’t take no for an answer.”<br/><br/>“I heard that,” Spada retorted as he got out of the fridge.<br/><br/>Tsurugi just got a shit-eating grin on his face.<br/><br/>Soon enough, they were headed back to their room with a bag full of food, including the hot cinnamon rolls. Naga had insisted on apologizing to Spada a few weeks ago, which Spada had brushed off immediately, telling him he had nothing to apologize for. And then proceeded to take some of Naga’s favorite caramel chocolate bars and made a dessert with them that was loosely a bread roll with a piece of the chocolate in the center. Naga loved them.<br/><br/>Stinger was grateful for their friends, no judgement, just making sure everyone was okay.<br/><br/>There never really had been much hope. Only a fool’s hope.<br/><br/>And Stinger was happy to be here.<br/><br/>Fin.<br/>3 January 2018 – 29 April 2020</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for getting to the end of this and reading! Drop me a kudos and/or comment, let me know you're out there and reading! You all are awesome!</p>
<p>Like with my last one, this was only TWO YEARS in the making. I'm thinking another multi-chapter endeavor is next. Stay tuned!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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